Teaching the basics of running via the experiences of an 83-year old man who has been running for over 45 years, including the completion of four marathons and training for a fifth marathon.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Not sure why my right leg and knee are sore

During the past week, I've been thinking about the soreness in my right leg and knee. A week ago when I ran fast and caused the problem, I wasn't going any faster than I did in running my last two 5K races, and I had no problems after those runs. The only thing that I can think of that makes sense is that my leg & thigh muscles are weaker than they were at the time of the two races.

Prior to my fast run last week, I had gone through two weeks of a lot of walking but no running. That might have allowed my muscles to deteriorate. Perhaps more important, I had been getting careless in doing my stretches before my runs. Before each run, I try and do the stretches that are shown on my picture page. Included are strengthening exercises for my knees, quads, and thighs. I've been skipping those exercises on quite a few of my runs, and that might have allowed my muscles to become weaker. I'm going to be more consistent in doing those exercises. Plus, as soon as I get a bench set up in my basement, I will start doing the resistance-training exercises shown on my total-body page. Hopefully, with a stronger body, I won't have problems with my speed runs.